The Viceroys of Ireland Part 17

{326}

CHAPTER XXII

[Sidenote: Lord Aberdeen's return]

Lord Aberdeen's return to Ireland, twenty years after his first entry into Dublin as Lord-Lieutenant, was announced immediately after the resignation of Mr. Balfour's ministry. It was to a new Ireland that the viceroy came. Much history had been made since the days when the 'Union of Hearts' presaged a smooth pa.s.sage to popularity for the Earl of Aberdeen. Successive Tory Governments had laboured upon Irish affairs, and if they had stopped short at Home Rule they had come very near it. The Nationalist party was inclined to be sullen, realizing their futility, and compelled to wait humbly upon Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's pleasure. He was independent of them. They were free to join the Opposition if they chose to do so, although the Prime Minister, always consistent, hinted that a Home Rule Bill was about to appear on the Parliamentary horizon. There was the South African business to be got through first; then the fiscal question seemed capable of wasting more public time, and questions of Empire and home finance all blocked the way to the ambitions of the group led by Mr.

John Redmond. Astute Nationalists quickly understood that they must wait for another General Election, perhaps two, before {327} their hopes could be realized, and therefore they stood aside while the country blinked its eyes at the unusual sight of Liberals sitting in the seats of the mighty, and new men with even newer names flocking to the Cabinet room in Downing Street.

Meanwhile, the Viceroy of Ireland took possession of his high office.

For nearly eight years he had lived in retirement, his Governor-Generalship of Canada beginning in 1893 and ending in 1898.

The Canadian period was another record of success for the viceregal pair, who were undoubtedly the most valuable at the disposal of the Government for viceregal positions requiring a long pedigree, a long purse, and the royal attribute of being all things to all men.

The position of a Lord-Lieutenant nominated by a Liberal Prime Minister is the most anomalous and difficult in the Government. He is selected because he is a member of the party in power, and asked to fill a post in which, as the representative of the king, he must not display any political leanings. His Majesty is above politics, and the man who is accorded royal honours in Ireland must represent the king non-politically. Even in this attempt he must needs lay himself open to the charges--eagerly laid against him--of showing favour to either political party, for even a Viceroy of Ireland cannot help being aware of the politics and religion of some of those upon whom he bestows office. In the case of a Liberal Lord-Lieutenant he dwells in a country where Liberalism has been buried for more than a generation, where {328} a religious motive colours every political action, and where bones of contention provide the only food for the hungry politicians.

But the severest handicap to which a Liberal Lord-Lieutenant is subjected arises out of the prevalent notion that Nationalism and disloyalty are almost interchangeable terms. This enables every Unionist to charge the viceroy with pandering to the prejudices of the disloyal majority, and thereby degrading the dignity of his office by condoning insults to the king whom he represents. From time to time Nationalist politicians have declined to drink the king's health, or have marched out of a hall or room at the sound of the first bars of 'G.o.d save the King.' Instances readily occur to all acquainted with Ireland. Unionists naturally make the most of this, and the Lord-Lieutenant finds himself criticized by all, the fiercest being those who ought to support him. Had Daniel O'Connell and his fiery successors bred a spirit of personal devotion to the throne of England, Home Rule might have been an accomplished fact thirty years ago, but the att.i.tude adopted by Home Rule's leading propagandists has alienated the sympathies of the voters of Great Britain. Comfortable politicians in Westminster can legislate and talk of Ireland far from the centre of the problem, and unhampered by the local difficulties that are to be met with in Ireland. They know nothing, or else conveniently forget that, while Liberalism in England can, and does, hold Home Rule compatible with loyalty to the king, such an amalgamation of ideas has not been {329} recognized hitherto in Ireland. The viceroy, however, has to face the music, and as the embodiment of kingly rule in Ireland he has to remain a Liberal and a Home Ruler despite the knowledge that Nationalists feel bound to hold aloof from the king's representative until self-government is granted.

Very few Viceroys of Ireland have been Cabinet ministers, and it is, indeed, surprising how any statesman can be expected to act as king in Ireland and as an exponent of his party's policy in Downing Street; but the fact that viceroys do not often sit in the Cabinet does not remove the political aspect of the post. The unwritten law seems to be that while a Tory occupant of the Viceregal Lodge may be as partisan as he wishes, no Lord-Lieutenant chosen by a Liberal premier must open his mouth on the political questions of the day. It is easy to account for this. Unionism superficially means this, at any rate--that the party believes in loyalty to the Crown and the Const.i.tution, while the other side can only retort by declaring that a readjustment of the Const.i.tution would not affect the indissolubility of the Crown.

[Sidenote: Nationalists and the Castle]

Then, Nationalists are by training and instinct suspicious of the Castle. Irishmen are seldom cowards, but it is only necessary to bring a charge of sycophancy against an Irishman to make him forswear the Castle and all its works. It is, in his opinion, the greatest insult you can offer him. You may question the honour of his ancestors, doubt his honour, or even deride his alleged sense {330} of humour--all these things will leave him cold; but hint that he wants a job, sneer at him because you imagine he is hankering after the fleshpots of Castle Yard or the messes of the Viceregal Lodge, and then take steps to insure your safety. This weapon has proved most effective in the hands of Nationalist writers and journalists, though it has not always succeeded in preventing men holding Nationalist opinions from serving their country on the bench or in the administration of the Government of the land.

English ministers possess more patronage than the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and jobbery is ever rampant in London; but the business of the metropolis is not stopped in order that the mult.i.tude may hold up their hands in horror at the action of the jobbers. Happily, England's strength is not in its Civil Service. In Ireland it is different, and whereas the ambition of every family was to have a priest amongst its sons, now a Civil Servant within its ranks is considered more desirable. And the Lord-Lieutenant, as Chief Patron, is the natural prey of the eager, and hopeful, and the disappointed.

Not since the mayoralty of T. D. Sullivan in 1886--during Lord Aberdeen's previous term of office--has the Mansion House in Dawson Street known the presence of a viceroy. Successive Lord Mayors of Dublin have held aloof from the Government--some from conviction, the majority frightened by the bogie of sycophancy. Amateur politicians continue to practise the art of debate on the floors and in the galleries of the City Hall, and their brethren in a more sophisticated manner {331} demonstrated their statesmanlike qualities in Westminster; while the Lord-Lieutenant, the symbol of England's despotic rule, mingles with the aristocratic and official sets, which are mainly Tory.

In fact, the Nationalists are afraid to indicate loyalty by accepting the hospitality of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and, curiously enough, the extreme Unionists adopt precisely the same course when a Liberal Government is in power.

[Sidenote: Welcoming the Lord-Lieutenant]

Lord Aberdeen made his state entry on February 3, 1906. Only veterans could recall the doings of the Lord-Lieutenant of 1886, but Lord and Lady Aberdeen's names were household words, as they had been no strangers to Ireland during these twenty years, but had identified themselves with much work for the benefit of her industries and welfare, and in many ways the new viceroy and his wife received a sympathetic welcome. They were anxious to mark their term of office by social reform, and to keep the office as far removed from party politics as possible.

Two notable deputations waited on the viceroy at Dublin Castle within a fortnight of his arrival. One consisted of the survivors of the extraordinary popular demonstration that had escorted Lord and Lady Aberdeen out of Dublin in 1886. On that occasion the Lord Mayor of Dublin and members of the Corporation had headed the procession, which was intended to show the affection of the Home Rule party for the Home Rule viceroy. The survivors now read an address of welcome to the Lord-Lieutenant, and as all addresses to the viceroy are carefully subedited, Lord Aberdeen {332} was able to listen to the compliments this particular one contained, and reply in set terms indicating his desire to work in sympathy with all parties in Ireland. Twenty years earlier a different reply might have been possible, but during the interval between the first and second Aberdeen reigns the Tory party had stolen much of the Liberal thunder, and the deputation represented something as Victorian as an antimaca.s.sar.

The second deputation was from the City of Belfast, and expressed devotion and loyalty to the throne and to the king's representative.

In other words, it was a grim reminder to Lord Aberdeen that the Unionists had their eye on him, and that it behoved him not to air his Home Rule opinions during his viceroyalty. There is an unwritten law that all Lord-Lieutenants of Ireland must be non-political in thought and word, if not in deed, and the rule is always applied with rigour in the case of a Liberal viceroy. To this and all other addresses of welcome it was easy to return a speech of thanks, and Lord Aberdeen promised to visit Belfast at the first available opportunity--a promise which was soon fulfilled, and resulted in many subsequent visits to the northern capital, where Lord and Lady Aberdeen have always been accorded a hearty welcome.

[Sidenote: Lord Aberdeen in Rome]

It was not very long before the viceroy provided his watchful opponents with food for criticism. In January, 1907, he actually visited Rome without taking the trouble to obtain the consent of the Orangemen, who were horrified to hear that the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland had been received {333} in audience by the Pope. In this atrocious act they discovered all the evidence of the intention of the Government to consign the lives and property of Protestants to the inquisitorial mercies of the Catholics. The ministry was going to pa.s.s Home Rule at once, and in order to make it complete sent the Viceroy of Ireland to interview the Pope, and obtain his views on the matter. This was the opinion of the easily terrified Opposition. These excitable religionists were well aware of the fact that Lord Aberdeen is a Presbyterian, and an office-bearer in that Church. Ready themselves to sacrifice every shred of religion in the cause of politics, they doubted the sincerity of others, and the Lord-Lieutenant was accused of selling his soul to Rome to further the ends of the Government he represented. Religious extremists, whether they be Protestants or Catholics, always present an unedifying caricature of human nature and human sense. English Protestants made themselves just as ridiculous over the visit of the late King Edward paid to the Pope a few years ago. We know that, in the phrase of a great Irishman, the Catholics in England are a sect, while in Ireland they are a nation; but the bra.s.s-tongued minority in Ireland seem to dominate the country when they have any opportunity to bring charges against their Catholic fellow-countrymen. Lord Aberdeen pa.s.sed from the Vatican to the presence of the king of Rome, but this act did not serve to mitigate the heinousness of his first offence.

The year of 1907 was a full and exciting one for all concerned in the viceregal administration of {334} Ireland. On January 24 Mr. Augustine Birrell became Chief Secretary, as Mr. James Bryce was appointed to the emba.s.sy at Washington--or, at any rate, was induced to think so--and the new broom came with the intention of sweeping out many abuses.

There was to be a superb Irish University; there were whispers of a new Land Act that would bring peace to all concerned; the reform of Trinity College would be accomplished on the advice of the Royal Commission appointed the previous June; and, finally, there was a promise of Home Rule. Apart from these more or less political topics, quieter folk discussed the forthcoming visit of the king and queen, who were venerated by their Irish subjects.

[Ill.u.s.tration: King Edward conversing with Lord Aberdeen at the Irish International Exhibition, 1907]

[Sidenote: The Dublin Castle jewels]

The royal visitors were expected to arrive during the second week of July, and a few days before--on the 6th--it was announced that the famous collection of jewellery, known as the Dublin Castle jewels, had disappeared. The pecuniary value of the jewels was about 40,000, but their intrinsic worth was considerably more than this. The public amazement was nothing compared with the official consternation. These jewels were to have been used during the installation of Lord Pirrie as a Knight of St. Patrick, and King Edward was to have presided at the ceremony. Strange rumours flooded Dublin and travelled on to London.

No name was too high or too sacred to be a.s.sociated with the theft, and every bar-loafer could pose as a _persona grata_ in Court circles by slyly mentioning the mystery and declaring that 'everybody' knew So-and-so was the thief, and that his family {335} were paying ransom for him. It seemed as though the police confined their investigations to Debrett, ignoring those whose lack of rank and t.i.tle disqualified them for suspicion. The circ.u.mstances of this official tragedy were well in keeping with the romantic result. Dublin Castle is the headquarters of the police force and the detective staff, and on ordinary days presents the appearance of a German fort. Those acquainted with Dublin Castle declined to believe for a moment that professional thieves had entered this glorified police-station and stolen the most rigorously-guarded collection of jewels in the country.

King Edward and Queen Alexandra entered Ireland to the accompaniment of ringing cheers, the people being independent of Crown jewels or any other baubles to symbolize their loyalty. The Irish love a sportsman, and if he should happen to be a king as well they love him all the better for that. The magnetic personality of Edward VII. and the infectious charm of Queen Alexandra triumphed in Ireland, and everybody forgot for the time being that there was a Home Rule Government in power, and that a Liberal peer was their Majesties' host. Dublin was favoured greatly by the royal visitors, who daily performed some public act and received the salutations of the people. Those who expected that the absence of the Crown jewels would tend to depreciate the importance and effect of the visit were disappointed agreeably.

It is scarcely necessary to record that throughout the memorable visit of the king and queen {336} Lord and Lady Aberdeen displayed to the best advantage those perfect social qualities for which they are renowned in two continents. Such a period is necessarily one of hard and often anxious work, and the thousand and one questions to be settled offhand, the numberless applications for invitations to be studied and settled, and the natural anxiety for the safety and comfort of their royal guests, are matters that would place the average person at a disadvantage. Lord and Lady Aberdeen, however, have the happy quality of rising to the great heights great occasions demand, and so, if their Majesties' reception was tumultuous and their welcome regal, that accorded day after day to the Lord-Lieutenant and his wife can be described as viceregal. Second only in popularity to their ill.u.s.trious guests, they proved to the thousands of strangers who visit Ireland in the wake of royalty that it is by no means certain that a Liberal viceroy cannot earn the affection of the country. Common courtesy might account for the respect royalty and royalty's representatives meet with in Ireland, but only genuine affection could inspire the enthusiastic welcomes accorded to King Edward and his son and their viceroy, the Earl of Aberdeen.

The report of the Viceregal Commission appointed to inquire into the circ.u.mstances of the theft of the Crown jewels appeared on February 1, 1908. It stated that Sir Arthur Vicars, the Ulster King of Arms, who was the official custodian of the jewels, did not exercise due vigilance or proper care. His resignation followed as a matter of {337} course, though it must be recorded that there was a general impression that Sir Arthur Vicars had been made the official scapegoat.

The decision of the Commission by no means satisfied public opinion, and rumour raged furiously again, inspired by all sorts and conditions of statements said to have been omitted from the report, although stated in evidence before the Commissioners. One of these days the secret history of the disappearance of the Dublin Castle jewellery may be revealed. Until that time, it must be cla.s.sed among the unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.

A state visit to Belfast in the autumn of 1907, and the unveiling of a statue of Queen Victoria in Dublin on February 15, 1908, were the most notable events of these years. The tragic death of the Hon. Ian Archibald Gordon, their Excellencies' youngest son, took place in November, 1909, the result of a motor-car accident. Mr. Gordon had just become engaged to Miss Violet Asquith, the daughter of the Prime Minister, and the marriage had been looked forward to with pardonable eagerness on both sides, as it would have united at the altar two families bound together by many ties of friendship. The engagement was a secret until the fact was published that Lord Aberdeen's son was at the point of death. Great sympathy was expressed with his devoted parents.

[Sidenote: Death of King Edward]

The termination of King Edward's brief and splendid reign necessarily placed the court in mourning for twelve months, and the viceroyalty underwent a period of quiescence. King George's {338} accession was proclaimed in Dublin and other cities on May 11, 1910.

The visit of King George and Queen Mary in July, 1911, was the great event of the year. Fresh from the Coronation, their Majesties arrived in Dublin on July 8, holding a Levee, a garden-party, and a drawing-room, reviewing troops in Phoenix Park, and visiting hospitals and inst.i.tutions. And all in five days! The Prince of Wales and Princess Mary of Wales accompanied their parents, and won for themselves no little popularity. The magnificent reception accorded to the king and queen astonished even those who possessed a knowledge of previous royal visits. At times it exceeded in warmth that extended to King Edward--a feat which many declared to be impossible until it was an accomplished fact. Again Lord and Lady Aberdeen demonstrated their ability and popularity. Once more they were second only to the king and queen. The perfect organization that had displayed itself on the occasion of King Edward's visit was seen again, and if their Majesties had a most strenuous time, they were equally as pleased as their subjects and their viceregal representatives. Not a single discordant note was struck throughout the series of public and private ceremonies performed by the king and queen, and well might Nationalists fear that the spectacle of Irish men and women outdoing the welcome accorded to the king and queen at their Coronation would give to all the world the impression that Ireland's dislike of England was purely a paper one.

{339}

When the visit was over, King George telegraphed from the royal yacht expressing his thanks to Lord and Lady Aberdeen.

'Having just arrived, after a most beautiful pa.s.sage,' he said, 'the queen and I, with the hearty cheers of the Irish people still ringing in our ears, wish once more to express to you and Lady Aberdeen our warm appreciation of all your kindness and trouble to insure our stay in Dublin being a happy and pleasant one. You have indeed succeeded, and we thank you sincerely.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Countess of Aberdeen]

[Sidenote: Lady Aberdeen]

From the earliest days of her husband's viceroyalty Lady Aberdeen worked actively in connection with numerous philanthropic societies. A champion of women, with a record dating back to the seventies, her specialities are the eradicating of consumption and the improvement of the lot of female workers. Her enthusiasm has led her into conflict with the old order, but Lady Aberdeen has ever been inspired with the best of motives, and she has done a great deal of good.

Lady Aberdeen founded the Women's National Health a.s.sociation of Ireland in 1907, and the fact that this society has united representatives of every creed and party in the cause of public health and the stamping out of consumption has in itself wrought much indirect good in all parts of Ireland, in addition to the direct result of reducing the death-rate from consumption by one-seventh in three years.

There are now over one hundred and fifty branches of this organization, composed of men and women representing all sections of the community, in all parts of Ireland, working {340} devotedly together for the welfare and the happiness of the people as a whole; and these workers have shown a power of initiative in meeting local needs by providing meals for school-children; forming Babies' Clubs, where mothers and their elder daughters are taught how to care for the babies, and how to make small resources go a long way in selecting nourishing food and suitable garments; turning derelict s.p.a.ces into garden playgrounds; organizing health lectures, health exhibitions, travelling health caravans, besides supporting sanatoria, hospitals, convalescent homes, and maintaining nurses for the care of tuberculosis patients in their own homes.

The success of other notable undertakings might be quoted as an evidence of the support which the present occupants of the Viceregal Lodge can count upon when they identify themselves with any special enterprise.

The Irish Lace Ball of 1907 at the Castle, the Pageant of Irish Industries of 1909, the great Ui Breasail Exhibition and Fete of Irish Industries and Health in 1911, visited by over 176,000 persons in fourteen days, of every shade of opinion and of every cla.s.s of the community, are events which will be long remembered in the Irish capital in connection with Lord Aberdeen's lengthy reign.

There was a 'storm in a teacup' during the General Election of December, 1910, when Lord Aberdeen aroused the wrath of the Conservatives and Unionists by telegraphing to the Liberal candidate in West Aberdeenshire expressing his own belief that the apprehension that under Home {341} Rule the Protestant minority would suffer was unfounded. A Committee of Privileges composed of members of both Houses of Parliament inquired into the matter, and reported that they found that the viceroy's action had not contravened any Standing Order or regulation. This was accepted, and nothing more was heard of the matter.

Further criticism fell his way when Ireland was in the grip of a railway strike, and he was spending a holiday in Scotland. There was a clamour for the viceroy's presence in Ireland. He was already on his way thither, but though he had been successful in settling the Carriers' Strike some years previously, the present occasion did not offer an opportunity for personal mediation.

[Sidenote: The place-hunters]

When his term of office ends, Lord Aberdeen can look back upon several years of success in Ireland. He may not be a racing man, and Punchestown may not be a favourite haunt of his, but sterner qualities than a fondness for horse-racing are necessary to succeed as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. In the most favourable times it requires a vast amount of tact, a keen sense of humour, and a sense of proportion.

Place-hunters abound and office-seekers are innumerable. Dublin Castle is regarded as the haven of hope for all younger sons without talent and briefless barristers hungering for a regular income. They are all suppliants of the Lord-Lieutenant, and several hundreds of years of ascendancy have given them a sense of right in receiving favours, and one of indignation and injustice in the case of refusal. But when all is said and done, the {342} outcry over jobbery in Ireland is absurd, for it is a fact that there is more jobbery in London in a month than in the whole of Ireland in a year.

There have been some attempts to abolish the viceroyalty, but if ornamental it is also useful, because the Irish instinctively respect royalty, and a country populated by the descendants of kings could not be expected to have an instinctive respect for any form of government savouring of Republicanism, or one that left wholly to the imagination the majesty of the Sovereign ruler.

To satisfy all cla.s.ses, to tolerate the intolerant, and to represent the non-political King of England, although appointed for his political opinions, are the duties of the Lord-Lieutenant. Surrounded by lynx-eyed critics, Tory and Nationalist, he has to be something more than the shadow of the monarch, and he is not allowed to escape criticism, although the king for whom he acts as deputy is supposed to be above it. It is not an enviable post, and never will be. That Lord Aberdeen and Lady Aberdeen have been successful n.o.body will deny, and Ireland will lose two good friends when their term of office comes to an end.

The introduction of Mr. Asquith's Home Rule Bill makes the Irish viceroy's position more delicate than ever. Its success means the end of the official ascendancy, and bureaucracies always fight desperately until the first shot is fired. When Liberalism has achieved its ambition, the Irish bureaucracy will cease to hold the power that makes or mars every viceroyalty.